Chapter 31 Hudson #2
As much as I wanted to jump into the cab with him, I knew he would want to know the horse he loved was safe. My throat tightened as I went over to Junebug and untied her from the fence line. The truck was already moving ahead of us.
By the time I swung into the saddle, I was drenched. The rain was coming down harder now. Junebug bunched and danced, but she surged forward, ears pinned, fighting her way home through the hailstones. I crouched low over the horse’s back, gritting my teeth.
“Almost there, girl. Just hold on. We’re almost home.”
When the ranch yard came into view, my shirt was plastered to me, my skin welted and raw, fingers near numb on the reins. Hailstones had pelted hard enough to leave bruises.
I wanted to run straight into the house to see Matty, but duty held me in place. The barn. Always the barn first to take care of the horse that I owed for saving Matty’s life. If not for her, we could have spent hours roaming the property to locate him.
I swung down, legs wobbling, and led Junebug inside. She trembled under me, foam and rain streaking her coat, nostrils wide with every breath. Poor girl had worked hard to bring us home.
I rubbed her down fast, checked her legs, then did a closer inspection to see if she’d been hurt by any of the stones. Pleased to see no cuts, I laid a dry blanket over her back. “You’re safe now,” I whispered into her mane, voice cracking. “And so is he. You’re such a good girl, aren’t you?”
Junebug blew a warm huff against my chest, her body finally relaxing under my hands. I dug into the feed bin and scooped out a measure of oats to add to her bucket. She pressed her nose straight in, crunching loud and steady, and I stroked her neck once more, grounding myself in the sound.
“Eat up, girl. You earned it.”
Only when she was settled with her head deep in the grain did I tear myself away, every muscle screaming to get to Matty.
I should’ve waited for the rain to slacken, but I couldn’t.
Not when I needed to see him with my own eyes.
I bolted across the yard, boots splashing through puddles, hail still bouncing around me like stones, gritting my teeth against the ones that connected.
Ozzie was waiting inside the mudroom with a towel the size of a blanket as if he knew I wouldn’t have stayed away. He threw it around my shoulders before I even got the door shut. “Gray was right that you wouldn’t wait in the barn.”
“Where’s Ivy?” I rasped. She was usually a step behind Ozzie.
“In the kitchen with Gertie. She’s keeping her busy decorating cookies.”
My lungs loosened a fraction. “And Matt? How bad is it?”
Ozzie’s mouth curved into something gentler. “Upstairs. In bed. Gray patched him up and bandaged the worst of the cuts. He’s gonna be all right, Hudson.”
Relief hit me so hard my knees almost buckled. I shoved the towel tighter around me and climbed the stairs two at a time, water still streaming from my hair.
When I eased the door open, Matty was sitting up in bed, shirt stripped off, skin mottled with scratches and angry red slashes where the barbs had raked him. Clean bandages lined his arm. His lashes fluttered, but his gaze found me all the same.
And only then did I let myself breathe.
“Hud?” His voice was raspy but steady. “Come here. You’re soaked to the bone.”
I shut the door behind me, swallowing down the knot in my throat. “Forget me. Are you okay?”
He swung his legs over the side of the bed, which he had no business doing. “I’m fine. You, on the other hand… Come on, strip out of those wet clothes before you freeze solid.”
“Matt, you should be lying down.”
But he was already moving, limping a little as he crossed to the closet. He pulled out a green T-shirt and a pair of worn sweats and tossed them onto the bed. “Humor me, Granger. I don’t want you catching pneumonia.”
I wanted to argue again, but he had that stubborn look on his face. “All right.” I grabbed the clothes and went to the bathroom to change, not wanting to drop more water on the carpet. Matty followed me inside, leaning against the door, supervising me like he didn’t trust me to do what he said.
Wet clothes smacked against the tiles, and I reached for another dry towel to pass over my skin, hissing when I touched areas sore from the pelting hail. I slipped on the pair of sweat pants, free-balling it since he hadn’t given me any underwear.
Before I could put the shirt on, he was in front of me, brushing my shoulder, over the bruises the hail had left, dark, angry splotches blooming across my arms and chest. His jaw tightened.
“Why didn’t you wait in the barn?” he whispered, fingertips hovering over one welt like it hurt him to look. Then he hooked his hand around the back of my neck and pulled me in. His hug was loose, and I clung to him gently, careful not to disturb his damaged arm.
“I was so scared for you,” I murmured against his neck. “I couldn’t find you. You wouldn’t answer the phone, and no one knew where you were. If Junebug hadn’t come back without you…” My throat tightened, and I pressed my eyes shut against the stinging tears.
Matty leaned back, running his fingers through my damp hair. “Marry me.”
I froze. My pulse thumped in my ears. “What?”
“Marry me,” he said again, clearer this time, like he’d been holding it in. “I thought about it, Hud. When I was stuck in that fence, not sure when or if I’d get out, and all I could think about was what would happen to you and Ivy?”
“Matt—”
“I want everything that belongs to me to belong to you too. You and Ivy both. You’re already my family. I want it written down, locked in, no question about it.”
My chest squeezed so hard it hurt. I cupped his face, searching his expression. “Matt, you scared ten years off my life. This is the shock talking. You’ll regret it tomorrow.”
“No.” His grip on my wrist tightened, and his voice was steadier than mine. “I once told you I don’t do things I regret, and I meant it. Four years wasted, Hud. I don’t want to wait anymore. I love you. You love me, and we’re already practically living together. Let’s make it official.”
I swallowed hard, shaking my head in disbelief. A marriage proposal was not what I had in mind when I woke up this morning. “Matt, I don’t know if I trust your judgment right now.”
“Are you turning me down?”
“God, no. There’s nothing I’d rather do than marry you. I’m saying if you feel the same way in forty-eight hours, then yes. Yes, I’ll marry you.”
Relief and determination flickered across his face all at once. He smiled, the kind that hit me like sunlight after weeks of rain.
“Good,” he said softly. “Then it’s settled.”
I laughed under my breath, still stunned, still cold, and still holding the only man who could make me want forever so badly it hurt.
“Matt—” I brushed my lips against his.
“Hmm?”
“I hope you don’t change your mind.”
His lips curved against mine. “I won’t.”